Colorado rolls out new logo and slogan for state brand campaign

Fly the Colorado flag. Wave it. Love it. It's a grand old flag. But the state flag couldn't compete with a green triangle as the new Colorado logo.

State officials will unveil the image and an accompanying slogan — "It's our nature" — as the focal points of a new Colorado brand during a Thursday session of the Colorado Innovation Network Summit.

In what is described as the most ambitious branding effort ever undertaken by a state, Colorado will incorporate the new logo into every aspect of state government — signs, letterheads, tourism promotion, vehicle emblems, business cards and dozens of other uses.

"We have a state flag and seal, but until now Colorado has never had a unified brand," said Aaron Kennedy, the state's chief marketing officer.

Aaron Kennedy, the chief marketing officer of the state of Colorado, on Aug. 27, 2013. (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)

Creation of the brand is one of six objectives under Gov. John Hickenlooper's "Colorado Blueprint" for economic development.

Kennedy, founder of the Noodles & Co. restaurant chain, led a group of prominent business leaders, marketing experts and graphic designers who collaborated to create the logo and slogan over the past year.

Those individuals and their firms provided pro bono services that Colorado officials value at $1.5 million. Another $800,000 was contributed by the Colorado Tourism Office and the Statewide Internet Portal Authority, which operates state government websites.

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"This brand will not only help Colorado attract talent and jobs," Kennedy said, "but also save public dollars by eliminating the need to manage individual brands for each agency and department in state government."

The logo is a green-and-white triangle with a snow-capped peak sitting atop the letters CO. Colorado is spelled out beneath the triangle.

The image-building campaign was guided in part by public feedback — not all of it positive.

Kennedy said some preferred the use of the Colorado flag as the official state logo.

But in a nationwide survey where people were shown the flag with no other identifying information, more respondents said it represented Chicago than those who correctly identified it as the Colorado flag.

A related survey question showing the standard green-and-white Colorado license plate — even when it was viewed without the word "Colorado" — had high recognition among the national respondents.

That was the impetus for using the mountain motif and green-and-white color scheme in the logo.

Colorado has trademarked the new image so that it can't be used for unauthorized purposes. Businesses can apply for permission to use the logo along with phrases such as "Colorado Made" or "Colorado Grown" in the same way that the "Colorado Proud" logo is now used to identify local products.

For state government use, the logo will be paired with similar but inverted triangles that identify each of the state's 22 agencies.

Kennedy said he is anticipating some negative feedback from the public.

"We put it out there knowing we'd take a lot of whacks in the knee," he said.

He noted that the famed Nike "swoosh" originally was criticized before becoming one of the world's most recognized brands.

Still, marketing expert Darrin Duber-Smith was unsparing in his assessment of the new logo and brand campaign.

"I would not put my name on this if I was the creative director," said Duber-Smith, a marketing consultant and professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

"It looks like something my students could have put together in five minutes," he said. "It reminds me of a haz-mat symbol, or something you'd find on a construction hard hat. It's a very weak and non-creative effort."

Kennedy said the brand is the product of some of the best creative minds in the state.

In addition, he said, use of the brand by Colorado government agencies will yield quantifiable financial savings.

For example, he said, the Colorado Department of Transportation spends $300,000 annually on marketing, including the design of logos for individual highway projects.

"Multiply even a fraction of that number by 22 state agencies, and you can see how the new brand will actually save the state money," he said.